Does anyone of you feel like South Florida is a dead end like a dead end street? (Miami: apartment, rent) - Fort Lauderdale area - (FL) -Broward County - Page 3 - City-Data Forum

Shoegal1075 · 01-14-2009, 02:46 PM

Thank you Mister NY - I appreciate the advice. I make a decent living here, but am taxed for everything and would like to be in a place that is a little more child friendly. Don't get me wrong there is all sorts of stuff I love about NY and if my kids were the artsy theartre types, there would be no better place. But, I have 2 boys who live for sports and I think there time would be better spent in a place like florida. My fear obviously is the job situation. The ads are there, but I'm not sure if they are true 50k - 65k for an Executive assistant or a legal assistant. Do yu know anyone in this industry who can speak from experience?

NEWTOSFLA · 01-14-2009, 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

Thank you Mister NY - I appreciate the advice. I make a decent living here, but am taxed for everything and would like to be in a place that is a little more child friendly. Don't get me wrong there is all sorts of stuff I love about NY and if my kids were the artsy theartre types, there would be no better place. But, I have 2 boys who live for sports and I think there time would be better spent in a place like florida. My fear obviously is the job situation. The ads are there, but I'm not sure if they are true 50k - 65k for an Executive assistant or a legal assistant. Do yu know anyone in this industry who can speak from experience?

Hi Chelsa,
SOUTH FLORIDA IS NOT AND I REPEAT NOT A CHILD FRIENDLY PLACE OR FAMILY ORIENTED PLACE TO BE...please stop thinking about the weather..that will wear off after like 2 months living, then you'll be sweating all the time, wishing it would be cooler, and you will not get even close to 50k for a EXEC. ASST....everything down here is like a other poster said, quite generic compared to NYC, you'll get bored and you'll need a good support system and a good paying job lined up before you come down here...Good Luck to you and don't ruin your life...it sounds like you are doing very well up there...South Florida is just a vacation spot and a place for old people to die...trust me on this one...

fauve · 01-14-2009, 08:37 PM

Chelsa, no, no, no...there are no 50-65K legal/executive assistants here and if there are, they are worried about being laid off...Attorneys here just type their own stuff or hire temps. Stay put. Or, if you're curious, start sending out resumes and see if you get any calls....that will tell you volumes more than we could.

Nikki9947 · 01-14-2009, 10:40 PM

I agree with everybody..Color me blind but I've honestly never heard of a legal assistant getting paid very much down here however I could be wrong. (I know that there could be exceptions) If I were to tell anybody to move down here, I would tell them to ask for the absolute HIGHEST salary possible first. There is a HIGH probability of being stuck with the exact same salary or only moving up only slightly for years on end. (Point in case, I work in accounting and I have not seen a raise in 3 years however my utilities, rent, car ins. have gone up, up , up.)
I also wanted to add that an already established set of family or friends will make a SUBSTANTIAL difference in a persons experience in South Florida. I made the crucial mistake of coming down here alone and it honestly can be a very depressing and lonely place to move to when you have no support system. It's a little scarier (you don't know your way around) and I also find it very hard to make significant friendships. After awhile it can get very frustrating. Eventually you will find yourself looking for flights to return home every weekend. lol If you have friends or family it's a lot easier to meet people, you will have people to enjoy things with, and often times its a lot easier to deal with the "typical" south Florida problems. (And there will be problems)
If I could do it all over again, I would've just bought a freakin' time share or VRBO and called it a day.

NEWTOSFLA · 01-15-2009, 08:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nikki9947

I agree with everybody..Color me blind but I've honestly never heard of a legal assistant getting paid very much down here however I could be wrong. (I know that there could be exceptions) If I were to tell anybody to move down here, I would tell them to ask for the absolute HIGHEST salary possible first. There is a HIGH probability of being stuck with the exact same salary or only moving up only slightly for years on end. (Point in case, I work in accounting and I have not seen a raise in 3 years however my utilities, rent, car ins. have gone up, up , up.)
I also wanted to add that an already established set of family or friends will make a SUBSTANTIAL difference in a persons experience in South Florida. I made the crucial mistake of coming down here alone and it honestly can be a very depressing and lonely place to move to when you have no support system. It's a little scarier (you don't know your way around) and I also find it very hard to make significant friendships. After awhile it can get very frustrating. Eventually you will find yourself looking for flights to return home every weekend. lol If you have friends or family it's a lot easier to meet people, you will have people to enjoy things with, and often times its a lot easier to deal with the "typical" south Florida problems. (And there will be problems)
If I could do it all over again, I would've just bought a freakin' time share or VRBO and called it a day.

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU NIKKI, it's even worse if you have a 6month old baby and you live by yourself, very isolating , it's truly a cruel world out there, sunshine is not everything, i also haven't received a raise since 2006 from the state department and they are trying to lay off more employees, gee whiz, i can't wait to leave to a better stable environment for me and my baby.

dmccauley · 01-15-2009, 08:34 AM

I have to say I love all you people that said Florida is a tough place to make friends. I said that on another thread and was told I was whining and needed to get a life. I moved here from NJ with 3 kids thinking that it would be a better life. They could play outside all year long, participate in sports ya da ya da. Well its just the opposite. They loved playing in the snow, hate going out here because of the heat. The sport programs are run through the county not the school system so chances are they won't meet up with people they go to school with (they also start around 7pm to avoid the heat) I'm not sure if its just Sarasota but there is no physical education program here in the Elementary School. The kids play four square and once a year are required to do sit ups. I was told I was making a mistake I was giving up my support system and me being stubborn I thought of everything I could to convince people they were wrong. (the houses were cheaper, outside all year long, beaches were free, the streets and cars and surroundings are always so clean and beautiful, better life for my kids) Well boy was I wrong. I should have listened. Like the other people said on here vacationing here is totally different then living here. Also don't be fooled there may not be income tax here but your taxed on everything else.

Shoegal1075 · 01-15-2009, 10:32 AM

New Yorking thinking of moving down. I'm guessing you would tell me not to go then. It is weird on one hand I have family there who are honest and say it is tough, but they would never come back to NY. I don't really have any family in NY they have all gone south, but this is the evil I know and I would hate to up-root my boys to say in a year, guys I'm sorry - we are moving back.

Shoegal1075 · 01-15-2009, 10:34 AM

I am very dissapointed the sun sentinel does advertise that, I really didn't want to put my resume up until I was ready to go in June.

dmccauley · 01-15-2009, 10:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelsa1075

New Yorking thinking of moving down. I'm guessing you would tell me not to go then. It is weird on one hand I have family there who are honest and say it is tough, but they would never come back to NY. I don't really have any family in NY they have all gone south, but this is the evil I know and I would hate to up-root my boys to say in a year, guys I'm sorry - we are moving back.

I am doing exactly that. Thank god my kids don't hold it against me. Unfortunetly the real estate market is so bad here I've been trying for 1 1/2 years to go back.

Shoegal1075 · 01-15-2009, 11:06 AM

Really, wow - you dislike it that much? I have just built florida up so much in my head that I'm goint to deflate. I feel like I have to make the move in order to know what it is like. I know what NY is like and I know that I don't love it here, but as I mentioned before, I have a very good paying job here, but I'm not happy with the cold and so on.